Previously known methods for retaining a reactant in a polymer have required embedment or chemical attachment of the reactant to the polymer. Such methods are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,859,169; 4,855,353; 4,634,672; 4,452,892 and 4,452,918. None of these patents describes a method for retaining the molecule in condition such that it is accessible for reaction, without embedding or chemically attaching it in the polymer matrix.
In these prior art processes in which the reactant molecule is embedded in the polymer, the interstices of the polymer are smaller in size than the reactant molecule and the reactant is entrapped by the polymer matrix. Where the reactant is chemically attached to the polymer, the chemistry of the reactant is changed. In both cases the reactant is inhibited from freely reacting due to either the embedment or chemical attachment.